Wardrobe-trunk.



E. J. MAHER.

WARDROBE TRUNK. APPLICATION mzn NOV-25,1916.

Patented Feb. 12, 1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l- E. .I. MAHER.

WARDROBE TRUNK.

APPLICATION FILED NOV-25,1916.

Patented Feb. 12, 1918..

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

UNITED STATES PATENT @FFIQE.

EDWARD J. MAKER, or so. LOUIS,M1S'S'OURI, ASSI'G'NOB to :P. o. MURPHY 'rRuNK to, on ST. LOUIS, MIs'SOITRI, A CORPORATION OF MISSOURI.

WARDROBE-TRUNK.

' Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 12,1918.

Application liledNovember 25, 4916. Serial No. 133,328.

To all whom it may-concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD JOSE-PH MAHER, a citizen of the United States, 1'0." siding at St. Louis, Missouri, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Vardrobe-Trunks, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to wardrobe trunks of the type in which one section of the trunk constitutes a compartment for garments that are suspended from coa't hangers, and the other section of the trunk constitutes a compartment for sliding drawers, boxes or containers for holding small articl'es.

One object of my invention is to provide an etficient means of novel construction for holding the garments in the garment compartment of a Wardrobe trunk in a flat condition.

-Another object is to provide a follower for wardrobe trunks that is held securely at its upper and lower ends and which is so corstructed that it' can be operated easily either to press the garments together or to release the garments when it is desired to remove one of the garments from the trunk;

Figure 1 of the drawings is a perspective View of a wardrobe trunk constructed in accordance with my invention, showing the trunk open.

Fig". 2 is a front elevational view of the garment section.

Fig.3 is'a vertical sectional View, taken on the line 3==3 of rigi '2; and

Fig. '4 is an horizontal view, taken on the line of Fig. 2. Referring to the drawings, which illustrate the preferred form of my invention, A and B designate a garment section and drawer section, respectively, of a wardrobe trunk, the garment section being provided with extensible rails 1 on coatihahg er's 2 are strongly mounted, and the drawer seen-ionbeing provided with a plurality of drawers or containers 3 that are slidihgly mounted on. guides '4.. The top portion 5 of the garment section A is hinged so that it be raised, as shown in Fig. 1, and a metal collar or sl ibs'tantially U -shaped I mean frame on combined with said garment section, so as to reinforce and strengtlen the upper end portion of same and also serve as a rigd support for the rails l on which the coat hangers are mounted. The parts ab'ove referred to are of well known construction and form no part of my pres-- ent invention.

My invention consists in a means of novel construction for holding the garments in the section A of the trunk in a flat condition and in the preferred form of my invention, as herein illustrated, said means consists of a follower G that is provided at its upper and lower ends with devices which cooperate with elements carried by the section A to securely hold said follower in position and permit it to be adjusted toward and away from the rear wall 7 'of the garment compartment of the trunk. The follower C may be of any preferred form, the follower herein shown consisting of a rectangular shaped frame formed from slats, and various means may be used for supporting said follower and holding it in adjusted position. One means that I have found to bevery efficient for this purpose consists of a pair of rails or bars 8 arranged adjacent the upper end of the garment compartment that cooperate with laterally-projecting devices 9 on -the upper end portion of the follower C to support said follower, and a spring-actuated device 10 at the lower end of the follower that cooperates with retaining devices 11 on the side walls 7* of the garment compartment, The bars or rails 8, on which the follower G is slidingl mounted, are ")1eter l)lv provided with racks or notched portions that '06- operate with the laterally-projecting devices 9 on the follo'wer to hold the follower in adjusted position, and the teeth 12 ofsa'id notched portions slope upwardly toward the rear wall 7 'of the garment compartment, as shown in Fig. 3. so that the devi'cest) o'nthe follower will ride freely over the rails 8 when the followe'r is pushed rearwardly or toward the rear wall of the garment compartment. In order to prevent the devices 9 on the follower from moving upwardly 0a the rails s, I have provided said rails with re t aining portion 13 that extend over the later"? 60 bar upwardly, thereby causing the de portion 13 of the rail 8 with which said device cooperates, and while the rails S can be formed in various ways without departing from my invention, I prefer to form each of said rails from a flat bar of metal that is bent at one end to form a rightangularly-disposed"flange 14 through which fastening devices pass, and bent at its other end to form a substantially angle-shaped portion, one of whose legs serves as a spacing device to hold the bar away from the side wall of the garment compartment and the other leg serving as a flange 14 through which fastening devices pass. The. rails 8 can either be connected at their rear ends to the rear wall 7 of the garment compartment and at their front ends to the Slde walls of said compartment, or said rails can be connected to themetal frame or collar 6 at the upper end of the garment compartment, as shown in Fig. 1. When the rails 8 are formed in the manner above referred to the slot between the toothed portion and the retaining portion 13 ofeach rail will extend laterally into the angle-shaped portion at the front end of the rail, as shown in Fig. 1, so as to permit the reduced portions 9 of the devices 9 to be withdrawn from said slots when it is desired to completely remove the follower C from the garment compartment.

The retaining elements 11 that cooperate with the spring-actuated device 10 at the lower end of the follower preferably consist of rack bars mounted on the side walls 7 of the garment compartment, and the device 10 on the follower that cooperates with said elements preferably consists of a transversely-disposed bar 10 whose end portions project laterally far enough from the fol'-' lower to extend under the retaining elements 11 and cooperate with the teeth 11 thereon. The bar 10 is combined with a means that tends to move said bar upwardly into engagement with the teeth 11, and in the form of my invention herein shown said means consists of contractile springs 15 arranged the guide in guiding devices 16 on the follower that receive guiding pins 17 on the bar 10, said springs being connected at their upper ends to the guides 16 and at their lower ends to pins 17, as shown in broken lines in Fig. 2; g

v When the follower is in operative position, as shownin Fig. 1. the springs 15 tend to draw the follower downwardly'andthe .vices 9 at the upper end of the follower and the devicelO at the lower end of the fol lower to ,be drawn downwardly and up-' wardly, respectively, into engagement with the notched portions or rack'teeth on the bars 8 and 11, respectively, with which they cooperate.

9*" of the laterally-proj ecting devices 9 at the 1 upper end of the follower will assume such a posltion that they can pass between the points of the teeth 12 on the bars 8 and'the portions 13 on said bars that lie above the reduced portions on the devices 9. There after, the follower can be moved toward or away from the rear wall 7 of the garment compartment. the reduced portions on the laterally-projecting devices 9 on the follower slid ng freely over the teeth 12 on the bars 8 when the follower 'is moved rearwardly. After the follower has been moved to the desired position, for example, rearwarclly far enough so that it will press the garments together when the follower is in a vertical position, the lower end portionof the follower is swung downwardly, thereby causing the spring-actuated bar 10 to engage the retaining devices 11 and ride over the teeth thereon until the follower assumes a position parallel, or approximately parallel, with the rear wall 7 of the garment com- I partment.

mounted when the trunk is handled roughly or stood on either of its ends, the bars 8 servmg as the supporting means for the follower when the trunk stands on one of its ends, as

shown in Fig. 1, and the bars 11 serving as r e the supporting means for the follower when the trunk stands on its other end.

In relatively shallow wardrobe trunks of the so-called steamer trunk type it is the usual practice toprovide the drawer section with onedrawer that is relatively deep or high, but comparatively shallow, so that mens shirts can be packed in same ir a flat condition. Heretofore, the shirt drawer of a steamer wardrobe trunk had to be completely removed from 1 the drawer section when said drawerwas being paclred or unpacked, thus makmg it inconvenientto remove a shirt from the trunk or pack shirts in the trunk. In my improved trunk the drawer section B of the trunk is provided with a shirt drawer 3 that is combined with the guides4 on which it normally rests in such a manner that said drawer can be packed or unpacked without removing it completely from the drawer section. As shown in Fig.

1, the portion of the drawer 3 that constitutes the bottom of the drawer when said drawer is in its normal position on the guides 4, is provided with hook-shaped devices 18 that project into elongated slots 19 in the guides 4. l/Vhen it is desired to pack or unpack the drawer 3 said drawer is moved forwardly on the guides l and then swung downwardly into a horizontal position, as shown in Fig. 1, the devices 18 on said drawer cooperating with the guides 4 to support the drawer and prevent it from being withdrawn completely from the drawer section. After said drawer has been packed or unpacked, it is swung upwardly into operative position on the guides 4 and then moved rearwardly into its normal position in the drawer section. It w ll thus be seen that by constructing the shirt drawer in this manner I facilitate the operation of packing or unpacking a wardrobe steamer trunk by overcoming the necessity of completely removing the shirt drawer and placing it on the floor or on a chair while it is being packed or unpacked, as has heretofore been the usual practlce.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by I etters Patent, is:

1. A wardrobe trunk provided with a garment compartment, a follower in said compartment supported in such a manner that one end of same can be swung inwardly or outwardly with relation to the rear wall of said compartment, said follower consisting of a one-piece frame whose portions are Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each,

permanently connected together, and a looking means for securing the free end of said follower consisting of a spring-pressed bar arranged transversely of the follower, some distance inwardly from the end thereof, and toothed devices on the vertical si-le walls of the garment compartment that cooperate with the end portions of said bar.

2. A wardrobe trunk. comprising a garment compartment, a follower in said compartment consisting of a rigid frame, rails that cooperate with a means on one end of said follower to support it. a transverselydisposed bar arranged adjacent the opposite end of the follower in such a manner that it can be moved longitudinally of same, and stationary notched devices that are adapted to be engaged by the end portions of said bar.

3. A follower for wardrobe trunks provided at one end with laterally-projecting devices that cooperate with a supporting means on the trunk, a bar arranged transversely of the follower adjacent the opposite end of same, housings on said follower, guiding devices on said bar that project into said housings, and springs in said housings connected to same and to said bar for exerting pressure on said bar in one direction.

4. A follower for wardrobe trunks consisting of a-rigid frame provided at its up' per end with laterally-projecting devices, rails having teeth or notches that receive said devices, a bar arranged transversely of the follower adjacent the lower end of same and adapted to be moved longitudinally of the follower without altering the length of the follower, cooperating guiding portions on said follower and bar, a resil ent means that tends to move said bar in one direction, and notched retaining elements tl at cooperate with the end portions of said bar.

EDWARD J. MAHER.

by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, C. 

